Disc 152 is...Pretties For You
Artist: Alice CooperYear of Release: 1969
What’s Up With The Cover?: An interesting piece of modern art which I couldn't resist looking up. It was painted by a guy named Ed Beardsley, and the original used to grace the wall at Frank Zappa's house. It depicts a middle aged man with a beer, looking sidelong at a woman in a short dress who is lifting up her hem to show him her panties. It is a pretty disturbing little bit of art, and a good initial entry for Alice Cooper album covers.
How I Came To Know It: A couple of years back I thought that I had finished my Alice Cooper collection, but when I went to check on line, I found that there were two very early albums, "Pretties For You" and "Easy Action" both of which came out before the band hit big with "Love It To Death" in 1971. I quickly went looking for them both, and coincidentally they had just been reissued on CD. It was very easy to find as a result, and I picked them both up at Lyle's that weekend.
How It Stacks Up: I have all 25 of Alice Cooper's studio albums. "Pretties For You" is a weak entry, which is strange, given that it is their first record. However, I would put this closer to the bottom. Maybe around 20th to 22nd.
Rating: 2 stars.
"Pretties For You" is more interesting for its historical significance to Alice Cooper's work than it is as an album on its own.
It is very different from most Alice Cooper work. It actually sounds very much like what it is; a young band still trying to find their own voice, and learn their craft.
The sound is so different from what I've come to expect from Alice Cooper that it was very jarring the first time I heard it. If anything, it sounds like a combination of Cream, the Beatles, and very early Pink Floyd. Like "Sargeant Pepper" merged with "Piper at the Gates of Dawn."
On top of this, Alice Cooper has added some unique elements of their own. In particular, the beginnings of the innovative hard rock guitar that would be perfected on "Love It To Death." However, the groove is incomplete, and simply not as good.
It is also an album buried under some awful production. Back when I was seeking out more information about this album before I bought it, I remember reading one review that referred to the record as "sounding like it was recorded in an empty garbage bin". It definitely has that tinny quality, and needs much more bass in the mix.
The genius of what would come later does shine through these challenges in a few places. I particularly liked "Fields of Regret" which I would love to hear recorded again with some better production.
Also very cool is "Reflected" which is an earlier version of what would eventually be recorded as "Elected" on "Billion Dollar Babies" a few years later.
The tune is largely the same, but the subject matter completely different. Imagine the following lines, to the tune of "Elected":
"Look upstanding with your head held high
You will be reflected
You look outstanding with your eyes in disguise
Just beyond Damascus"
Unlike the pretty clear theme in "Elected", I am still not sure what "Reflected" is entirely about, but I like it, and it is fun to hear a song basically redone with different lyrics and arrangement. Although technically "Elected" was the song that was redone, as it came later (but to much greater acclaim).
I actually have the reverse experience with Blue Oyster Cult - where I have two songs with the same lyrics, but totally different music. But I'll talk about that when I roll it - if I ever roll any Blue Oyster Cult.
"Pretties For You" is not the best Alice Cooper album, but if you are a devotee of his music like I am, it is very interesting to see the origins of the band's sound.
Best tracks: Fields of Regret, Reflected.
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